The Indonesian women were ancestors of Madagascar

Paris (AFP / Reuters) - Several Indonesian women became the founder of the colony of Madagascar 1,200 years ago, researchers said on Wednesday will be one of the strange episode in the history of the human odyssey.

Many anthropologists were fascinated with Madagascar, because the island was far from the history of the conquest of man on this planet for thousands of years.The island later became home to indigenous Africans and people of Indonesia, which lies 8,000 kilometers from Madagascar.
A team led by molecular biologist Murray Cox from Massey University, New Zealand, examined the DNA of the population of Madagascar in search of clues to the explanation of the immigration puzzle.They look for traits inherited through the maternal chromosome, the DNA samples taken from 266 people from three ethnic groups of Malagasy.Twenty-two percent of DNA that has a variation of the "Polynesian motif," the characteristics of the genes found in the Polynesian population, but very rare in the western part of Indonesia. In one group of Malagasy entis, one of two people have this characteristic.If the result is correct, then about 30 women in Indonesia became the founder of the Malagasy population "with a smaller contribution, but equally important, to those from Africa," he said.

The study was focused on mitochondrial DNA, inherited through the mother, so there is still a possibility that some Indonesian men arrived together with the first lady.Computer simulations suggest that the settlement began around 830 AD, while Indonesia is developing trade routes under the control of the kingdom of Srivijaya in Sumatra.The study also shows the contribution from Southeast Asia.In linguistics, the people of Madagascar speak a dialect that when traced comes from Indonesia.Most of the lexicon, a glossary of terms in alphabetical order, are from Maanyan language, the language used in the Barito River valley in southeastern Kalimantan - the remote rural areas - with some additions from the Javanese, Malay or Sanskrit.Other evidence of Indonesia's population comes from the discovery of an outrigger canoe, iron tools, musical instruments such as xylophone and a "culture of tropical foods" such as the cultivation of rice, banana, sweet potato and taro are taken from across the sea.

"Madagascar began to be occupied about 1,200 years ago, especially by a small group of women in Indonesia, and the contribution of Indonesia - such as language, culture and genes - dominate Madagascar continues to this day," said the report.
30 How does the woman to cross the Indian Ocean to Madagascar remains a mystery.One theory is that they come up with a merchant vessel, though not yet found evidence that women participate in a long voyage on board the merchant Indonesia.

Another theory states that starting from the colony of Madagascar authorized dealers, or may be the center of the escape of refugees who lost land and power in the expansion of the territory of the kingdom of Srivijaya.

But the third hypothesis - and most daring - mentions that the women were on the ship was due to set sail across the ocean by accident. Thought it was supported by simulations using the indication of shipping ocean currents and weather patterns of the monsoon season, the team said Cox.

Indeed, in World War II, bombed wreck near Sumatra and Java, stranded in Madagascar, even in one case, there is one passenger survived in lifeboats.

The study was published by the British journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B.